LeBron and Durant are the obvious ones. Because Durant, at almost 7-ft tall, has all the skills to play and guard the 2, I'd put him there where he's an incredible mismatch. I'd put LeBron at the three for the same reason. There are C's, PF's and PG's with better numbers than Duncan, Dirk and Parker.. but those are my picks there. I think all three do a lot of things that are unnoticed, even by modern statistics. Very smart players with all the intangibles.

CP3 is a fairly obvious pick as backup point. Curry I want on there for sure for his 3-pt threat. Ibaka and Kawai I want on the roster as a defensive big and wing. Davis brings a lot of the same things as Duncan, and more than Howard or Griffin, without the ego. George is my scoring wing off the bench Creates mismatch problems, like Durant and LeBron. Solid defender. Humble attitude (spare me the Melo, Harden, Westbrook headaches). Love is my scoring big off the bench. Might start over Dirk. Brings all the traditional 4 assets, along with a 3-pt shot and ball-skills to spread out the court from that spot like Dirk and LeBron.

Lebron is a better mismatch at the 4, where he is strong enough for traditional 4's, but substantially quicker and can pull them out of the paint. Chris Paul is hands down better than Tony Parker. Carmelo is a prototype 3. Dwight Howard is a fantastic player and better offensively than Gasol or Noah.

Both teams have at least 3 3pt shooters on the floor at any one time and the bench unit can sub Wade for Korver if they need additional shooting.

I think u might be right about LeBron at the 4. I'd still prefer Parker as my coach on the floor at the point in a contest like this though, even though I agree that CP3 is a better "player". I also think that u overrate Dwight's offense. He's a brick machine and he wants to shoot 20 times a game.. and he'll be a problem if he doesn't get to. I'd much rather have the intelligent, consummate winner TD out there. Not what Dwight is athletically on D, but solid and smarter there, and much better on O. Then, I think I'd still go with George > Melo at the 3. I think one is overrated and one is underrated. I also think one is humble, and would accept a secondary role to LeBron and Durant, while the other would not.

If I'm going to go with LeBron at the 4 (instead of the 3), and George at the 3 (instead of off the bench)....I need a scoring wing off the bench, so I guess I'll go with Melo there...and I'll replace Love with him, instead of Ibaka, because I've got Dirk off the bench now, and I still like having Ibaka's D/REB.

Looking at ur squad:
-Harden. I guess I've, essentially, got George on the team over him; and I don't think Harden's the player George is.
-Love. I guess I've got Dirk on the team over him. Love's great, but I think Dirk's still the superior player.
-Wade. I guess I've got Leonard on the team over him. Think Wade's slipped too far. And I don't think there's place for another scorer on the bench. I'd rather have a shut-down defender in that spot.
-Dwight. I guess I've got Ibaka on the team over him. I think Davis brings as much defensively as Dwight, more offensively (where I think you overrate Dwight), and less problems. Dwight's gonna wanna shoot 20 times a game, even on a team like this, and he'll cause problems if he doesn't get to (or worse problems if he does). He's a jerk. And selfish.
-Korver. I guess I've essentially got Parker over him. I prefer him in the PG mix, to Curry. And I prefer Curry to Korver as my 3-pt specialist.

No. I considered him healthy, as healthy as he could hypothetically be when he returns, at least. I just think Durant, George and Melo are superior to him at this point. And I prefer Leonard to him as my shut-down wing (he can guard 3's and 2's). I suppose I might reconsider much of that, though. Kobe is still pretty good.

C: T. Duncan. IMO, there still isn't a better offensive big man in the game than T. Duncan. He's no longer the best defensive big man in the game, but he's more than solid there. I don't think there's another big in the league who brings more, overall (i.e., to both sides of the court). Plus, he's so smart, he's got so much experience, he's been through so many pressure situations, he's won so much, he's got so many intangibles. There's still no one I'd rather have out there than T. Duncan.

PF: L. James. No real need to comment here. He's the best player in the world currently, and at least one of the top-5 all-time IMO. The best scorer in the game, period; and when he needs to be, the best perimeter defender in the game as well. Big, strong and athletic enough to guard most traditional 4's on the interior; and a major match-up problem for all traditional 4's on the perimeter.

SF: K. Durant. No real need to comment here, either. He's the second best player in the world. The second best scorer in the game, period; and when he needs to be, a solid perimeter defender as well.

SG: K. Bryant. He's getting up there in age, and he's recovering from an injury, but Kobe still is what he is: one of the greatest scorers and on-ball defenders of all-time.

PG: C. Paul. He's the best all-around point guard in the world according to most. Not much need to comment here either.

BENCH:

PF: D. Nowitzki. This is a very important role, because I'd actually play him more than Kobe (Kobe'd never happily accept a "bench" role). Dirk was the last man to beat the Miami Heat, two and a half seasons ago. HE won that championship--more so than any active player ever individually has. HE was the best player in the league at that point, it wasn't that long ago, he hasn't slipped that much, and he more than deserves starter's minutes. LeBron might create uniquely advantageous match-ups at the 4, but seriously, who can guard Dirk's turn-around jumper? Is there really a better individual match-up than that against anything? And while LeBron can guard 4's, Dirk - an above average defender - still guards traditional 4's better.

PG: T. Parker. This is also a very important role, because I'd actually play him over Paul in crunch time (Paul'd never happily accept a "bench" role either). There's no statistical argument that can be made in favor of T. Parker over C. Paul, but in crunch time, it's Parker I want out there. Statistics, even the most advanced ones available (to us), ignore a lot of what he brings to the table ~ ALL the same intangibles that Duncan brings, so I won't bother repeating them. When it's time to win the game, he's the clutch, fearless, intelligent coach on the floor that I want running my team.

C/PF: A. Davis. This is another important role with two older players (Duncan and Dirk) as my primary bigs. Statistically, Davis has been far and away the best big man in basketball this season--his second. Much like a young Duncan in terms of his mental makeup. Can spot Duncan or Dirk at the 5 or 4 (against traditional 4's), and play alongside either as well.

SF/SG: P. George. In addition to being an offensive star, did you know that George is also the top-rated wing defender in the NBA this season? Me either. He's a shoo-in. Though solid, Durant's not an elite defender, and Kobe's recovering from a major injury (/getting old), so this too is an important role.

C/PF: J. Noah. I don't know how or why -- there are so many others with more size and athleticism? -- but Joakim Noah is the best interior defender in the game. Dirk's never been an elite defender, Duncan's no longer an elite defender, and (surprisingly?) Davis' defensive numbers aren't as impressive as you might expect, so this too is an important role.

PF/C: S. Ibaka. There will be times in a game (perhaps closing a lead out, going against a great interior scoring squad, going against a weak perimeter defensive squad, etc.) when I want to go with a really dominant defensive front-court. Though his defensive numbers (again, surprisingly?) are down this season, Ibaka's still the man I'd choose to pair with Noah for those purposes.

K. Korver. If I ever needed a late-game 3, Kover'd be the one I'd want taking it. I'm guessing he'd be heavily guarded if I ever inserted him into such a situation--and end up serving merely as a decoy--but still, hell of a decoy for Durant, right?

TOUGH CUTS:

K. Korver > R. Rondo. I'm guessing Rondo's still the best defensive point guard in the game (impossible to know?), and I'd have liked to have him in my "shut-down" lineup (Noah-Ibaka-LeBron-George-Rondo), but I ended up deciding that CP3 was close enough; and also that it wasn't essential to have a 3rd PG with Kobe on the roster.

S. Ibaka > D. Howard. Howard/Noah is probably a more imposing "shut-down" front-court than Noah/Ibaka, but something tells me Dwight wouldn't be all that pleased about being the 4th big man off the bench.

Dwight Howard is still a top 3, minimum, centre in the game. He has the best pick and roll numbers, and is a force defensively. Sure, Marc Gasol and maybe Joakim Noah are better defensively, but Howard bullies these guys on offense. He sucks in the post, but on a team like this, transition is going to be bread and butter, not half court sets.

Also, Paul George absolutely sucks this year. He has regressed under .400 shooting, so he is pretty much useless offensively. Kobe Bryant, aside from being injured, is a highly talented chuck machine that hasn't played defense since 2010. I'd rather play Jennings.

Dwight Howard is still a top 3, minimum, centre in the game. He has the best pick and roll numbers, and is a force defensively. Sure, Marc Gasol and maybe Joakim Noah are better defensively, but Howard bullies these guys on offense. He sucks in the post, but on a team like this, transition is going to be bread and butter, not half court sets.

Also, Paul George absolutely sucks this year. He has regressed under .400 shooting, so he is pretty much useless offensively. Kobe Bryant, aside from being injured, is a highly talented chuck machine that hasn't played defense since 2010. I'd rather play Jennings.

On a side note, who the hell is going to coach these guys?

Click to expand...

A) D. Howard is the 29th best qualified player in the league this season (12th best center), according to WS/48. He is the 15th best qualified defender in the league this season (7th best center), according to defensive rating. His offensive rating is not among the top-50 qualified players this season.
B) J. Noah is the 13th best qualified player in the league this season (3rd best center), according to WS/48. He is the best qualified defender, overall, in the league this season, according to defensive rating. His offensive rating is not among the top-50 qualified players this season.
C) M. Gasol's WS/48 rating is not among the top-50 qualified players this season. He is the 33rd best qualified defender this season (13th best center), according to defensive rating. His offensive rating is not among the top-50 qualified players this season.

D) P. George is the 16th best qualified player in the league this season (3rd best SF), according to WS/48. He is the 3rd best qualified defender in the league this season (best SF). His offensive rating is not among the top-50 qualified players this season.

E) There's a pretty serious shortage of high-end SG talent in the league this season. I might later go back and opt to replace Kobe on the roster with a defensive stopper, like Rondo or Leonard, but I certainly wouldn't replace him with someone like Melo, Harden, Wade, etc.

F) I'd probably have what's his name from Duke be the head coach, just because he's already coached a lot of them together with no major problems. But I'd need a real brain like Popovich as the lead assistant.

*Those stats aren't perfect, and they don't mean everything (*I certainly didn't pick my team based entirely on them), but they are the best we have, and they do mean something.